You can consume maps from the World Map Kit Online using a website (or a web-based application) or a Windows desktop application. If you are using a website, the process is fairly simple: You simply register the domain name of your website, and ThinkGeo takes care of the authentication transparently.

Desktop applications are only slightly more complicated. In a desktop environment, you will need to connect to the World Map Kit Online using a Client ID / Private Key pair. This is simply a set of credentials that you'll be given when you purchase access to the World Map Kit Online. Our full line of Map Suite developer controls from version 3.0 and onward support this type of connection natively. However, if you are developing your desktop application using other GIS software, support for Signed URLs depends on the manufacturer of that software.

If you'd like to know more about the Client ID / Private Key system and how to connect your desktop application to the World Map Kit Online, simply post your questions in our World Map Kit Support Forum and our professional support team will do their best to answer them for you.

Map Suite World Map Kit uses Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap datasets and combines them into a comprehensive kit with global street level coverage. You can browse, pan and zoom into the actual maps you'll have access to in real-time at our online demo.

It also includes aerial imagery from multiple sources. Within the United States, the resolution of the aerial imagery is 1 meter. Outside of the United States, it is 15 meter.

Yes. The World Map Kit is based on OpenStreetMap. Go to OpenStreetMap and create an account, add/edit the data and within an hour you will see your updates appear in the World Map Kit Online.

The Map Suite World Map Kit Online is hosted on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).

There is a limit of 100,000 tile requests per day. In the rare occasion that you require more than 100,000 tile requests per day, there will be an additional fee.

No. In order to customize and extend the maps contained in the World Map Kit, you would need to purchase the World Map Kit SDK instead of the World Map Kit Online. The World Map Kit SDK is designed to be used in concert with one of our Map Suite GIS software components, such as Map Suite Desktop Edition or Web Edition, and comes with fully customizable source code.

After you use the World Map Kit SDK to customize your maps, you will either need to distribute the complete map dataset along with your client application, or purchase Map Suite WMS Server Edition to set up your own web-based map server that can be consumed over the Internet.

Each edition of the World Map Kit includes the same complete set of world map data and professional design logic that makes your maps look great. The difference lies in the intended use for each product. Let's break it down:

• The World Map Kit Online is the easiest way to gain access to the complete global dataset of the World Map Kit directly over the Internet, without needing to install anything or maintain your own servers. ThinkGeo hosts the World Map Kit Online on our own servers, and all you do is connect to them with your applications to receive great map imagery of anyplace on Earth. Simply pay an annual fee to access our servers and get clean, unwatermarked map images. Out of the box World Map Kit Online also offers aerial imagery at 1 foot resolution within the United States and 15 meter for outside of the United States.
• The World Map Kit SDK is an extension for our line of Map Suite GIS software controls, such as Desktop Edition or Web Edition. When you combine the two, you can add world maps into the custom mapping applications that you create using Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. Additionally, because the World Map Kit SDK comes with full source code included, you can completely customize the look and feel of the maps or even add your own data to the mix. The World Map Kit SDK requires .NET development experience.